Enclosure for flexible connections



.Ee 30, 1936. w. J. BELCHER ENCLOSURE FOR FLEXIBLE CONNECTIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 21, 1933 INVENTOR;-

' ATTORN I S.

June 30,1936. w BELCHER- V ENCLOSURE FOR FLEXIBLE CONNECTIONS Filed Sept. 21, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Arma ys.

Patented June 30, 1936 UNITED STATES OFFICE Application" September 21, 193Se1'i'alNo.690337 2 Claims..

This invention relates to a novel'andimprovedf enclosure for flexible connections, particularly of the'type of connection involving the use of "a chain to connectth'e ends of adjacent shafts. The ac.- companying drawings show selected embodiments of the invention, and referring thereto:

Fig; 1 is a side elevation of the enclosure, parts being'broken awayand 'parts' being in section,,

Fig. 10 is a detail-view-ofoneof'the gaskets' used in assemblingtheparts shown in Figs. '6; 7; 8; and-=9;

Figs. 11 and 12 arev-iewstaken at" right angles to eac'h other and showing one of the parts'-:-of*

the lubricant retainer;

Fig. '13 isa view simil ar to Figr 1 butsliowing aslig-htlydifferentform of theinventions this view bei ng taken on the 1ine-I3l-3- of Fig; 14:;-

Fig. :14 is a view taken substantially on the -line |4l4 of Fig. 13;-

Figs 15, '16, 1'7, and-mare =-views showing the enclosureof Eigs. 13 and 14,-Ei'gs 1'7fand '18b'eing taken respectivelymns the lines- 11 and Ni -I8 of Figs--15. and 16.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown thereinztwo-shafts l and 2 havingltheirends adjacent. and; facing each. other and provided. with a flexible. driving. connection therebetween- In this.=.emb.odiment,. theaconnection consists of .gear teeth carried. by the respectiveshafts; andzmeshingwith'teeth. on azcontinuousvchain of thesecalled silent type,- whichjstmovablec lengthwise,

of. the shafts. to some extent. The shaftl is.

shownas provided with awhub 3, and the shaft- 2' with-asimilar hub 4, the-hub=-3 carryingteeth 5. and the hub 4 carrying teeth 6 These teethex tend radially outwardly from. theshafts I anclZ and the-hubs are keyedto the shafts as by .keys vl.

The teeth form driving members, andthey in turn engage with the teeth 8' of the chain 91'. The chain is, as mentioned above; of the silent type, formed of-a plurality ofplates l0 connected by rivets or pins l l"passingjthroughahgnedholes in overlapping "ends ofthe plates, and'each plate is provided with a pair of inwardly extending teeth 8. The chainisof sufficient width, as plainly shown in Fig;1;toengage the teeth 5 and 6 on the respective'hubsf'so as to complete the driving connection between theselitwo 'hubsand consequently between the two shafts; Movement of'the chain lengthwise oftheshafts may be limited by a guide plate I0, here'shownas a center guide disposed betweentheendsof. the shafts, although the wellknown side-guides could" be used if that type of chain is employed:

In accordance with'one'feature of the invention, I'employ astretch'of chain which is not only continuous so asto completely surround the shaft ends, but which" is 'so' designed that the teeth 8 have internal engagementonly with the teeth disposed therebetween; That is to say, the back edge IZ-of'any tooth'isout of engagement with the adjacent gear tooth on the-"hub: This arrangement materially decreases the friction between the chain and the'teeth" on the hub and provides a more flexible-connection.

Surrounding the shaft ends and the connection therebetween is an enclosure, here shown as a casing?l 3,- having sidewalls 14 extending radially With'respect to the shafts and having their innermost edges l5-received in U-shaped lubricant retainers l6. These retainers are preferably of flexible material which is substantially impervious to'oilor other lubricant that may be put within the "casing'and; as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, they may" conveniently be formed in two semi-circular arc-shapedmembers;the ends of which may abut-tocom-pletely surround the hubs 3 and 4 and bear thereon; These retainersthus form bearingsforthe'casing against the-shaft, of which, of course, the hubsform functional parts. That is t'o'sayytheretainers not" only act to retain the lubricant'within the casing, but they also act as hearings to support the casings on the shafts.

I preferably proyid'e the casing with inwardly extending lugsor'othen elements I? adapted to engage elements on the chain. In the form shown'inFigsrL'2, and'3, the chain has the plates lll'so arrangedthat'in each pitch extending across the chain there is "mounted, .first, a single plate andithenxtwoplates together. The result is the formation of openingsiin which the lugs 11 may conveniently'be pla'cedjand' engage" the backs of the platesoneither side thereof.

The above arrangement has several advantages, among; which may be mentioned elimination of friction between the casingand the hubs 3 and 4, in that'there is substantially no circumferential rotation therebetween.

In Fig. 4 I have shown an .arrangement in which the chain 9 has each pitch formed entirely of single plates, and in this form the engagement with the casing and the chain may conveniently be had by providing lugs i8 extending inwardly from the side walls 14 of the casing.

In Fig. 5 is an arrangement closely similar to that of Fig. 4, except that here the lugs l8 engage extended ends !9 of the rivets, these extended ends being provided for that purpose.

Referring now to Figs. 6, '7, 8, and 9,.it will be seen that the casing may be made intwo parts I3 and I3, with the bosses ll cast integral with one of the parts, in this instance with thepart l3. an opening 20 through which lubricant may be forced into the casing after the casing is installed and which may then be closed by a thread-- with the retainers 6 a tight enclosure is formed" for the lubricant. This lubricant may, of course,

be renewed at any time, either by draining through the opening 20 or by removing the casing.

In Figs. 13 and 14 I have shown a slightly different form of the invention, and in these figures the same reference characters will be used to indicate elements which are not materially different from those shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The description of such parts will not be repeated.

The principal difference of the construction shown in Figs. 13 and 14 over what is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is that here a roller type of chain 24 is used in place of the silent type previously described. The hubs 3 and 4 are provided with teeth 25 and 26 so shaped as to mesh with the rollers 2'! of that type of chain. The casing in this instance is provided with-a single relatively heavy lug 28 which fits between two adjacent rollers 27 and which will thus cause the casing to rotate with the shafts and with the connection formed by the chain .and teeth on the hubs.

It will be seen that when using either form of chain, and no matter what may be the specific arrangement of the lug engaging the chain, that lug extends from the casing towards the chain and has .a surface which contacts with a surface on some chain member, such as link, roller, or rivet pin, along a surface generally parallel to the surface on the lug. These contacting surfaces extend lengthwise of the shafts and also extend toward the shafts so that there may be sliding movement between the surface on a lug and the surface on a chain member both lengthwise of the shafts and transversely thereof.

In each embodiment shown, it will be seen that the casing is supported by the shafts but that it is caused to rotate by engagement with the flexible driving connection. The two shafts may be materially out of line with each other without disturbing the casing in its relation to the other parts to a sufiicient extent to permit the leakage of lubricant. The flexible driving connection shown is one in which the two shafts may occupy various angular positions with respect to each other and may also be displaced'so that, while The lower part i3" may be provided with hubs 3 and 4 and the lubricant retainers is elim- .inated, and thus these retainers remain tight for a much longer period than would be the case if they were relied upon to form a driving connection between the hubs and the casing, to cause the casing to rotate with the shafts. In this connection, it should be noted that, since the inventioli'is' foruse "where two shafts may be expected to be out of alignment, the wear on the retainers is such that they would become so loose that they would permit the casing to ride loosely on the hub and not rotate therewith. All these difficulties are overcome by the invention described above.

' While I have shown the invention as embodied in specific forms, it is to be undersood that various changes in details may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention, and I therefore do not intend tolimit myself except by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, two shafts in approximate alinement witheach other .and having ends adjacent each other, a flexible driving connection between said shafts permitting a limited misalinement therebetween, said connection com-- prising outwardly extending teeth on each of said ends and a continuous chain having spaced members extending lengthwise of the shafts and engaging said teeth and having limited movement with respect thereto lengthwise of said shafts, a lubricant-receiving casing surrounding said connectionand having walls extending inwardly towards said shafts on opposite sides of said connection, a lubricant retainer of flexible material disposed between the inner edge of each of said Walls and the adjacent shaft and preventing the escape of lubricant from the casing, said casing being supported on said shafts entirely by said retainers, and an element on said casing and extending inwardly from the casing between said chain members and. into engagement with one or more of them and slidable with respect thereto lengthwise and transversely of the shafts as the shafts vary their relation to each other, but positively rotating said casing with the shafts.

-,2. In combination, two, shafts in approximate alinement with each other and having ends adjacent .each other, a flexible driving connection between said shafts permitting a limited misalinement .therebetween, saidconnection comprising outwardly. extending teeth on each of said ends and a continuous chain having members withsurfaces extending toward said shafts and lengthwise thereof, such surfaces on certain chain members engaging said teeth and having limited movement with respect-thereto lengthwise of said shafts, a lubricant-receiving casing surrounding said connection and having walls extending inwardly towards'said shafts on opposite sides of said connection, a lubricant retainer of flexible material disposed between the inner edge of each 7 of said walls and the adjacent shafts and preventing'the escape of lubricant from the casing, said casing being supported on said shafts entirely by said retainers, and an element on said casing and extending from the casing towards said chain and having a surface in contact with one of said surfaces on a chain member and slidable with respect thereto lengthwise and transversely of the shafts as the shafts vary their relation to each other, but positively rotating said casing with the shafts.

WARREN J. BELCHER. 

